We have a winner!!!

This thing measures up to the hype. I really took a risk getting this based on some reviews online, especially at this price point. I'm really glad I did. I had this put in my 97 Taylor 420 to replace the fishman matrix pickup I had in it. This thing actually makes my guitar sound like a guitar! I'm playing in a full band at church where we normally run at about 90-94 db and I have had no problems with noise or feedback. My friend heard this and then played his Taylor with the expression system and ordered the Anthem the next day!

I was skeptical, but I'm glad I took the plunge. That is all...

Blown Away!

Working at a decent sized church we've had dozens of guitars come through, from professional musicians with their own bus, to the mid-week-fill-in-guy who knows four chords. So long story short I've heard a ton of guitars through our system. Our worship leader has owned five or six guitars since I've been here, Taylor, Martin, Takamine, Ibanez, but she's settled on a Baden A-Style Mahogany with a cedar top that had just the right amount of warmth and projection, it's really a great sounding guitar. At $1800 it came with the "newset and greatest" Fishman Aura-Ellipse on board a couple years ago, and at the time i thought it sounded great. I will say it took quite a while, and lots of adjustments to get the sound we wanted but in the end it sounded really good. So Baden goes out of business, and last year I find a used one identical to the one our worship leader plays for $600, I bought it knowing how good it sounds and how much of a steal that was for what they used to sell for. I finally got around to putting a pickup in it because it didn't come with one, and I went with the Anthem.

IT"S NOT EVEN CLOSE...

This is the best sounding pickup I've ever heard and second place isn't even visible in the distance. I set it up (mic gain) at home and then took it to Church this morning, set the EQ flat, plugged into a basic Radial DI with no adjustment, and was absolutely blown away. It really is unbelievable, especially when comparing the Fishman Aura-Ellipse and The Baggs Anthem side by side in the same exact guitar. The Anthem sounds so much better straight out of the Box, and I cranked the montiors to check for feedback... nothing (if the phase is set right) . If funds weren't an issue I'd rip that Fishman out and replace it with an Anthem TODAY, on an $1800 guitar!!! Every professional musician I know who's heard it says the same thing, including the custom guitar builder I had put it in, it's really unbelivable, it sounds just like your guitar.

If your in the market, buy it, it will blow you away.

Great sound, no feedback issues

Had this professionally installed into a D-28CW. It captures so much detail I have to be careful how I move my arm. I love the spacious and airy quality I get from this bass-heavy box. I keep the adjustment nearly pegged to the microphone setting, and haven't run into feedback issues with a PA or my small amp.

This sounds much better than an under-saddle element on its own, including a good pickup of percussion taps on the body. If you want less of that, you can dial up more of the under-saddle element.

I am running this through a Venue DI. Initially I was running the mids down a bit but now I'm liking the sound more flat. I do find that this pickup produces less signal than my others (like the Fishman in my Cargo); I use the DI to boost the signal before it goes to the desk.

If you find your sound is odd, definitely switch the phase (easy to do between songs). It makes a big difference in some circumstances.

GREAT PICKUP!

Great natural sounding pickup and mic combination! Easy to install.

Very Nice Sound

I upgraded my Guild F50R jumbo guitar from the factory-installed Fishman Matrix pickup to the LR Baggs Anthem, and I'm 99% satisfied with my decision. The sound is so much more natural than the previous pickup - I'm really happy with that aspect. The reason that I dinged it a half-star is because of the following considerations:
- First, unless you are *very* comfortable with working on guitars, you are going to need to have a professional install this. For me, this added a significant additional cost to the decision to upgrade.
- Second, though the sound is much more pure coming out of the Anthem pickup than my old Matrix, the signal is waaaaay weaker. I use an acoustic guitar preamp when playing live, and with my old pickup, I had to have the preamp gain way down at 1 or 2 or else I could overpower with my signal. With the Anthem, regardless of whether it's on the mic setting or transducer setting, I have to set the preamp gain to about 75% of max just to get a comparable output level. In the end, if you have a good preamp this isn't an issue, but if you're used to having a strong signal without a good preamp, you may need to consider getting a preamp along with this pickup.

All in all though, I'm very pleased with the sound and I don't regret my decision.